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But the Knicks have no excuses, no time to waste, no possible way to soften the pain of another crushing postseason exit.

President Trump heads to Arizona to rally GOP support ahead of the midterms. In Las Vegas he took a victory lap after new data showed a surge in tax refunds tied to his economic policies. Former Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax is at the center of a tragic murder-suicide that has stunned the political world....

Drought Engulfs 60% Of U.S. As Farmers Begin Spring Planting

A massive drought has emerged across large swaths of the US agricultural belt, threatening crops and livestock and eventually affecting food prices, at a time when fertilizer and diesel costs are soaring. As of early April, 60% of the Lower 48 is in drought as the Northern Hemisphere growing season begins and farmers begin plantings, according to NOAA. 

The southern US is already experiencing severe, extreme, and even exceptional drought conditions, putting pressure on key crops such as sugarcane, rice, and peanuts, while fruit trees have also been damaged by extreme temperatures.

Across the Great Plains, otherwise known as the nation’s breadbasket, winter wheat farmers are being forced to decide whether to keep the struggling crop or cut losses and replant, with dry soil also making germination harder.

The drought also complicates matters for ranchers, as the nation's cattle herd is already at its lowest level since the 1950s. As a result, some ranches may further reduce their herds, which will only push beef prices to new record highs.

In the western US, the problem is not so much rainfall as shrinking mountain snowpack, which threatens irrigation supplies ahead of the growing season. Water-use cutbacks for agricultural purposes are already being discussed or imposed in places such as Washington’s Yakima Basin and along the Colorado River.

Related:

• Meteorologists Warn About Super El Nino Event

• Washington, D.C. Will Feel Like June. Cue MSM Climate Doom Propaganda

X user Tony Heller noted, "The US is facing a drought possibly similar to the drought of 1610, which wiped out the Jamestown Colonists."

The US is facing a drought possibly similar to the drought of 1610, which wiped out the Jamestown Colonists.https://t.co/3Iz9DZwLZv pic.twitter.com/8dyGFhaa0m

— Tony Heller 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 (@TonyClimate) April 13, 2026

 All bad news for food prices. Traders are piling into these agri ETFs: "Why The Fertilizer Crisis May Spark Record Inflows Into Agri ETFs." 

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/17/2026 - 07:21

Madison Air Pulls Off Biggest U.S. Industrial IPO Since 1999 As Data Center Cooling Theme Heats Up

Madison Air Solutions surged 18% in its IPO on Thursday after raising $2.23 billion, pulling off the largest U.S. industrial IPO in nearly three decades. Shares closed at $31.75, signaling strong investor appetite for an industrial name tied to the AI infrastructure buildout.

The Chicago-based company designs and manufactures ventilation, filtration, and cooling systems for data centers, semiconductor manufacturing facilities, life sciences buildings, and commercial buildings. Most importantly, investors care about MAIR because it sells liquid, hybrid, and air-cooling equipment for data centers, tying it directly to the AI buildout boom. 

Data centers account for roughly 20% of MAIR's business. The company operates 30 brands and generated $3.34 billion in 2025 revenue, up from $2.62 billion a year earlier, though net income declined to $124 million from $236 million. Like many industrials operating in the US, it faces pressure from President Trump's tariffs, with imported metals adding more than $51 million in costs last year. 

On Thursday, MAIR closed at $31.75, up from its $27 offering price, giving the company a $15.5 billion. In premakret trading in New York, shares are around $32.

Last year, in the data center cooling theme, we penned a note titled "A Chilling Opportunity" on data centers, highlighting UBS analyst Joshua Spector's bullish coverage of Chemours as being well-positioned in coolant solutions for data centers. Year to date, Chemours is up 94%.

Looking ahead, Goldman analyst Mark Delaney provided color on the data center buildout earlier today: "Datacenter capex from leading public hyperscalers is now approaching ~$700 billion, roughly 10x the level in 2020." This only suggests that as chip stacks get more powerful and demand for energy and cooling rises, companies like MAIR and Chemours stand to be key beneficiaries.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/17/2026 - 07:20

The "Girls" alum entered rehab in 2018 for an addiction to Klonopin.

The big picture facing the Islanders is not as dreary as the immediate, crushing failure of missing the playoffs.

The president hates being dissed by anyone – including and especially a two-term senator. 

Military conflict is, at times, necessary and highly consequential; it can achieve beneficent ends, as well as awful ones. 

New York City is finally moving ahead with a long‑simmering plan to turn Brooklyn’s most chaotic traffic circle, Grand Army Plaza, into a true front door to Prospect Park -- but neighbors worry the changes will be a grand mess.

A man armed with an “AR-style pistol” walked into health insurer Aetna’s headquarters in Connecticut — but was quickly tackled by security, officials said.

Aluminum Market Descends Into Supply 'Black Hole'

Aluminum prices on the London Metal Exchange are climbing into the end of the week, reaching $3,621 a ton and approaching the peak seen during Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The problem now is that the aluminum market has been thrust into a serious supply shock amid the U.S.-Iran conflict in the Middle East, one that is unlikely to be reversed in the near term.

One big problem we highlighted last weekend was that Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA), the Gulf's largest aluminum producer, declared force majeure on part of its contract book after Iranian missile and drone strikes hit its Al Taweelah smelter. Then there is the Hormuz chokepoint and the U.S. blockade of the critical waterway, which has only further throttled vessel traffic.

It is important to note that EGA accounts for 4% of the world's aluminum production. The broader Middle East accounts for about 9% of global aluminum production.

JPMorgan analysts have warned that the industry is descending into a black hole, or a "metaphorical point of no return," where the "global aluminum market will face a serious and prolonged supply outage," even if vessel flows through the Hormuz chokepoint resume in the near term.

The analysts warned clients earlier this week that the market has now entered that dangerous void, and LME prices could soon reach $4,000 a ton as the largest supply deficit in more than 25 years quickly emerges.

Goldman commodity specialist James McGeoch recently warned clients, "Hard to think of a bigger metal supply shock: High degree of expectation this was where it was heading, but the initial reaction was to fade the uncertainty yesterday, that should be replaced by fresh length if history is a guide."

Countries exposed to Gulf aluminum shipments include the U.S., Japan, Turkey, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, and India. Any supply shock could hit Western manufacturers, allowing alternative suppliers in China and Russia to step up.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/17/2026 - 06:55

However, on Thursday it emerged that Mandelson had failed the security vetting conducted before his ⁠appointment as envoy, a fact that Starmer's team said the prime minister had been unaware of.

Think a bad hire is better than an empty seat? Think again.

GOP privacy hawks also shot down a compromise agreement that would have extended the surveillance law until 2031 while adding more stringent criminal penalties for violations of FISA searches.

"During those times, it was tough times, not just from a baseball standpoint, but the city was just horrible."

A Model For Europe? Switzerland Moves To Strengthen Country Against Foreign Property Owners And Migration

Via Remix News,

Foreign property owners will see their access to Swiss housing significantly reduced, as the Federal Council has decided to require authorization for their purchases. With foreigners accounting for more and more real estate transactions in the Western world, Switzerland’s tough measures may be a template for other nations.

The new measure aims to combat the housing shortage, especially as the population is set to vote in two months on the Swiss People’s Party’s (SVP) initiative “No 10 Million Swiss Francs,” reports Blick, based on a statement from the ATS Swiss Telegraphic Agency.

The Federal Council intends to require authorization for the purchase of primary residences by nationals of countries outside the European Union and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), it stated in a press release. If these owners relocate, they will have to resell their property within two years.

Foreign owners will also no longer be able to acquire commercial properties for the purpose of renting them out. The aim is to prevent purchases made solely for investment purposes. The purchase of shares in publicly traded residential real estate companies and units in real estate funds will also no longer be systematically permitted.

The government also plans to tighten regulations on holiday homes. The annual quotas that cantons have to authorize purchases by foreign owners will be reduced. Sales between foreign nationals will again require authorization. Any acquisition of holiday homes by non-Swiss buyers will reduce the cantonal quota by one unit.

“These proposals aim to refocus the Koller Law on its primary objective,” the Federal Council writes.

The draft bill is open for consultation until July 15.

This series of measures was decided in response to the Swiss People’s Party (SVP/UDC) initiative “No Switzerland with 10 million inhabitants.” The agrarian party wants to curb population growth by capping the resident population at 10 million.

The Swiss People’s Party (UDC) behind the proposal stated that rising immigration had resulted in “housing shortages and rising rents, traffic jams on the roads, crowded trains and buses, falling standards of schools, increasing violence and crime, electricity shortages, income stagnating per capita, ever-higher health insurance premiums, indebted social services, and increased pressure on the beauty of the landscape and the preservation of nature.”

If the new limit is exceeded, measures regarding asylum will have to be taken. And the free movement of persons agreement concluded with the EU could be terminated.

The Federal Council is clearly opposed to this text, which would jeopardize the agreements with Brussels reached at the end of 2024 after years of negotiations. The package still needs to be approved by the Swiss and European Parliaments. The Swiss people will then have their say.

With the amendment to the Lex Koller, “the Federal Council is closing a loophole in the stock market exploited by foreign investors,” the Socialist Party emphasized in a statement on Wednesday. According to the parliamentary group, this decision “sends a strong signal.” 

Filling this gap “is a long-awaited step forward for tenants and those wishing to acquire home ownership,” said the co-president of the Socialist Group, National Councillor Samuel Bendahan (VD), quoted in the press release. According to him, “foreign investors could easily enter the Swiss housing market via the stock exchange, circumventing the Lex Koller, without authorization or oversight.”

“It was high time to reverse the relaxations of the Lex Koller that have driven up prices, and thus rents, over the past few decades,” adds National Councillor Christian Dandrès (GE).

Across Europe, housing affordability has become a major issue. On one end, mass immigration has fueled tight housing markets, driving up housing prices and rent. At the same time, foreign investors are increasingly buying up more and more property, pricing out natives. In cities like Paris, foreigners own nearly 4 percent of residential housing stock. In other countries like Germany, foreigners buying up property is also an issue, but it is difficult to ascertain how much of the housing stock is owned by foreigners, as they often buy the property through a company registered in Germany and through numerous layers of shell companies.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/17/2026 - 06:30

Never-before-seen photos of the boat Lynette Hooker’s husband claimed she was sailing when she vanished were revealed to the The Post in the Bahamas Thursday.

Forget treating people as individuals: With his DEI demands, Zohran Mamdani aims to set up a New York City caste system.

Those who were concerned about the Yankees bullpen have probably seen enough to confirm those fears, even if the group has not been quite as bad.

The conversation between the two men turned heated when the subject of religion and politics came up and Stinson allegedly learned information about his driver.